Seedream 5.5: What's New and How to Use It Online

Key Takeaways

• Seedream 5.5 is ByteDance's newest Seedream image model, released on November 9, 2026. It makes images from text and edits the images you upload.

• ByteDance names three upgrades: more realistic skin, light and materials, clearer small text, and edits that keep the rest of the image steady over many rounds.

• In ByteDance's own tests, severe text errors fell to 0.4% of images, realism in image edits scored +55.62% against the previous version, and Seedream 5.5 led GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst and Nano Banana 2.1 on text structure.

• On Mage, Seedream 5.5 renders at 1K or 2K for 24 or 42 Gems, plus 9.6 Gems for each input image, and it's unlimited on the Pro plan.

• It takes saved Characters and References, up to 10 input images, coordinates for pinpoint edits, and quoted text in many languages.

What Is Seedream 5.5?

Seedream 5.5 is the latest model in ByteDance's Seedream family of image generation and editing models, made by its Seed research team. It follows the 5.0 generation (Seedream 5.0 Pro, 5.0 Flash and 5.0 Lite), and ByteDance says a Pro version of the 5.5 series will come later.

Like every Seedream model, one Seedream 5.5 model both creates images from a written prompt and edits photos you upload. ByteDance built this release around professional production work, where an image has to be usable on the first tries and survive many rounds of changes: e-commerce, marketing, film and television, games, office documents and fashion.

You can run Seedream 5.5 in the browser on Mage, next to the five earlier Seedream models, under one account.

What's New in Seedream 5.5?

More realistic photos

ByteDance says Seedream 5.5 renders lighting, materials and skin texture more naturally, and pulls back on the heavy gloss, overexposure and blotchy textures that made some earlier images look generated. Portraits keep skin detail in both highlights and shadow, and scenes such as wet roads, fabric and rough walls hold their texture under strong light.

Clearer small text

Text was already a Seedream strength, and 5.5 targets the hard cases: dense layouts, small captions and characters with many strokes. In ByteDance's tests across Chinese and English, severe text errors fell to 0.4% of images and minor ones to 1.7%, both well below the previous version.

Edits that hold over many rounds

When one output becomes the next input, small errors usually pile up. ByteDance trained Seedream 5.5 to keep the regions you didn't ask to change exactly as they were, without color shifts, and demonstrated 100 edits in a row on one image of the same person. That makes it the Seedream to use when you'll keep refining one picture.

Transparent images, announced

ByteDance also announced native transparent output for Seedream 5.5, for standalone assets such as stickers and product cutouts. On Mage, Seedream 5.5 makes standard images with a background.

How Does Seedream 5.5 Compare?

ByteDance tested Seedream 5.5 against Seedream 5.0 Pro and other leading models with experienced evaluators on its MagicArena platform. These are ByteDance's own results.

How Do You Use Seedream 5.5 Online?

You don't need a GPU or an API key. Here's the quickest route, on Mage.

Step 1: Sign up free on Mage. New members get 300 Gems once, enough for about 12 Seedream 5.5 images at 1K.

Step 2: Open the Seedream generator and choose Seedream 5.5 in the Model menu.

Step 3: Pick an aspect ratio (9 options, from 21:9 to 9:21) and a resolution, 1K or 2K.

Step 4: Write your prompt as plain sentences. Put any words you want in the image inside double quotes, and add images or an @character to edit a photo or keep a face.

Step 5: Generate. In our tests on Mage, images came back in 10 to 20 seconds. They're private by default and carry no watermark.

How Much Does Seedream 5.5 Cost on Mage?

Input images include uploads, saved Characters and References. Gem packs start at $10 for 10,000 Gems, and every paid plan includes monthly Gems. Unlimited runs use the standard queue, and Fast mode spends Gems to put a run at the front.

Prompts to Try on Seedream 5.5

Write Seedream prompts like a brief: the subject and what the image is for first, then the setting, then the style, light and framing. The Seedream prompting guide covers each part in depth.

A realistic portrait:

A candid portrait of a woman in her thirties on a balcony at golden hour, looking back over her shoulder toward the camera. Low sun from behind rims her loose hair, and her face sits in soft open shade with visible skin texture. Linen shirt, city rooftops softly blurred behind her, 85mm lens, natural color, no retouched gloss.

A page of small text:

A vintage newspaper page about the history of lighthouses, laid out in three columns. The headline "KEEPERS OF THE LIGHT" across the top in bold serif capitals, a black-and-white engraving of a lighthouse in a storm in the center, and short paragraphs of small English body text in each column. Aged off-white paper, crisp print.

A chain of edits:

Change the mug on the table to a glass teapot with loose jasmine tea, keeping the window light, the table and everything else unchanged.

Then run the result again with the next change, such as "add a small plate of almond cookies to the left of the teapot, keeping everything else unchanged".

A pinpoint edit:

Replace the poster on the wall in @image1 <bbox>402 96 668 410</bbox> with a framed watercolor of a mountain lake. Keep @image1 <bbox>0 700 999 999</bbox> unchanged.

Coordinates run from 0 0 at the top-left corner to 999 999 at the bottom-right of each image.

Which Seedream Should You Use?

Our Seedream model comparison covers all six side by side.

Seedream 5.5 Questions, Answered

When was Seedream 5.5 released?

ByteDance released Seedream 5.5 on November 9, 2026. It's available on Mage the same week.

Is Seedream 5.5 better than Seedream 5.0 Pro?

ByteDance's tests say yes: higher quality and usability in all six production use cases it measured, more realistic images and fewer text errors. On Mage it also costs less, 24 Gems at 1K or 42 at 2K against 68 or 135 on 5.0 Pro.

Is Seedream 5.5 free to use?

New Mage members get 300 Gems once, enough for about 12 Seedream 5.5 images at 1K, with no watermark. For regular use, Seedream 5.5 is unlimited on Mage's Pro plan ($30 a month).

What resolution does Seedream 5.5 support on Mage?

1K or 2K, in 9 aspect ratios from 21:9 to 9:21. For 4K, use Seedream 4.5, or sharpen a 5.5 image with the Image Enhancer.

Can Seedream 5.5 put text in images?

Yes. Put the exact words in double quotes and say where they go. You can write in many languages: in our tests on Mage, Seedream 5.5 set Spanish, Japanese and Russian lines correctly.

Can Seedream 5.5 keep the same face across images?

Yes. Save the face once as a Character or a product as a Reference, and put its @handle in any Seedream 5.5 prompt. Up to 10 input images fit in one run.

Does Seedream 5.5 make transparent PNGs on Mage?

Not yet. ByteDance announced native transparent output for Seedream 5.5, and on Mage it currently makes images with a background.

Why was my Seedream 5.5 image refused?

Seedream on Mage runs with a strict content filter that checks the prompt and the first image before generation. A refused run is refunded, and the notice suggests other Mage models that can take the request.

Try Seedream 5.5

Start with one of the prompts above, change one detail at a time, and keep the versions you like. For edits, run the result again with the next change and watch the rest of the picture stay put.

Open Seedream on Mage and try it. Have fun creating!